Meaning of Sun Tzu’s quote Know the enemy and know yourself

Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will not be in danger in a hundred battles, is a famous sun tzu quote from The Art of War. It has a deep philosophical meaning that applies not only to war, but also to business, sports and self-development.

So what did sun tzu say about knowing your enemy？

In which chapter of Sun Tzu’s Art of War does Know the enemy and know yourself appear?

In Sun Tzu’s Art of War, Sun Tzu mentions a number of things about knowing your enemy. One of his most famous quotes is in The Art of War Chapter 3 – Attack by Stratagem, and it is also one of the most well known.

Know the enemy and know yourself in Chinese-English

The quote in Chinese is “知彼知己，百战不殆；不知彼而知己，一胜一负；不知彼，不知己，每战必殆。“

Here’s what each word means in this quote.

“知(know)彼(the enemy)知(know)己(yourself)，百(hundred)战(battles)不(No)殆(danger)；

不(No)知(know)彼(the enemy)而(but)知己(yourself)，一(one)胜(victory)一(one)负(fail)；

不(No)知(know)彼(the enemy)，不(No)知(know)己(yourself)，每(every)战(battle)必(must)殆(danger)。”

“知彼知己，百战不殆；不知彼而知己，一胜一负；不知彼，不知己，每战必殆。“
— Sun Tzu

The following are translations of two famous versions, respectively from Lionel Giles and Thomas Cleary. I think Thomas Cleary better reflects the author’s original meaning and wisdom.

“Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”——Lionel Giles

“Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril. When you are ignorant of the enemy, but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain in every battle to be in peril.”——Thomas Cleary

The Meaning of Sun Tzu’s quote Know the enemy and know yourself

This is the last sentence of the third chapter of Sun Tzu’s Art of War, and it is Sun Tzu’s estimate of the rate of victory:

Know the enemy and know yourself	Win rate 100%
know yourself but not the enemy	Win rate 50%
know neither the enemy nor yourself	Win rate 0%

How can we know ourselves and our enemies? As a cognitive principle throughout the book, its content mainly includes the following three aspects:

1.”Knowing” is the prerequisite and foundation of war.

You can’t fight a war confused, reckless, or unaware of the enemy’s situation.

“What enables the wise sovereign and the good general to strike and conquer, and achieve things beyond the reach of ordinary men, is FOREKNOWLEDGE.” (The Art of War Chapter 13 – THE USE OF SPIES)

Only to understand the elements affecting the war situation, in order to make the correct war decisions, lay the foundation for victory, generals can really become a wise general.

2. It‘s necessary to “know comprehensively” and “know in detail”.

In a narrow sense, “knowing the enemy and knowing oneself” includes knowing our army and knowing the enemy’s army. But from a broad understanding, it should include all the information related to the war, such as the enemy and our troops, the weather, natural geography, vassals and allies. Among them, knowing the enemy is the first, but the mastery of other situations is also indispensable.

It is necessary not only to have complete knowledge of war information, but also to know it in detail. Because when making strategic decisions, it is necessary to use the “Five Matters and Seven military conditions“（The Art of War Chapter 1 – Laying Plans） to analyze and compare in detail the political, economic, military construction, general talents, military training, topography and other aspects of the situation of both the enemy and ourselves.

In specific operations, you also need to induce the enemy to move so that you can understand their movement patterns. Through the drill of Chen Shi’s formation, you can know whether the terrain is a place of life or death. Through exploratory attacks, you can find out whether the enemy’s troop deployment is complete.——（The Art of War Chapter 6 – WEAK POINTS AND STRONG (Chinese-English)

For his own army, the general must be familiar with the abilities of his subordinates, the morale of the army, etc., so that when fighting a war, the purpose can be clear and not misguided, and the measures taken can be endlessly varied and not rigid.

Even before attacking the enemy, “it is always necessary to begin by finding out the names of the attendants, the aides-de-camp, and door-keepers and sentries of the general in command. “ in order to implement the use of espionage and counter-espionage.

3.It is necessary to know the enemy, our situation,the heaven and tehe earth, as well as the way to overcome the enemy.

In addition to understanding the situation between ourselves and the enemy and the weather and geographical conditions, we must also know the inevitable laws of war activities and understand the basic principles of the use of troops.

Only by understanding the laws of war, mastering and correctly applying the principles of military use, and formulating one’s own combat plans in accordance with the laws can we defeat the enemy. The thought of “Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril” profoundly clarifies the relationship between knowledge and action, understanding and practice in war activities, and has universal military methodology significance.

Mao Zedong and “Know Yourself and Know Your Enemy”

Mao Zedong, the first President of New China, pointed out in Strategic Problems of the Chinese Revolutionary War that “the victory or defeat of a war depends mainly on the military, political, economic, and natural conditions of the two combatants“; and that the victory or defeat of a war “also depends on the subjective guidance of the two combatants. The militarists cannot attempt to win the war beyond the limits permitted by the material conditions, but the militarists can and must strive for victory in the war within the limits permitted by the material conditions.”

Meanwhile in the second volume of Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung it is written – “Sun Tzu’s law, ‘Know the enemy and know yourself, and you will not be in peril in a hundred battles,’ is still a scientific truth.“

Therefore, it is only by adhering to the facts, combining analysis and investigation with war preparation, battlefield application and tactical strategy, analyzing the enemy’s and our forces based on the investigation, and carefully weighing all the stakes, that we can dominate the war, and even decide to win the war.

Business and “Know Yourself and Know Your Enemy”

Not only are many ancient and modern Chinese and foreign militarists respected “know thyself and the enemy, a hundred battles will not be in peril” this law, as a kind of wisdom, a kind of decision-making strategy to win, also applies to all areas of social life, especially for the current highly competitive Business.

In fact, many successful entrepreneurs are very good at the use of “know your enemy and know yourself, the hundred battles will not be in peril” this strategy model.

The Wall Street Journal, there is an article like this:

“No one knows you better than Mom, but does she know how many pairs of shorts you have?”

However, Choki Investigations International knows!

“Does your mom know how many ice cubes you put in your glass of water?”

Yet, Coca-Cola knows!

It can be seen that, in business management, some foreign companies in order to truly achieve “know your enemy”, the consumer’s knowledge of the situation, even more than a mother’s knowledge of her children. Some even consumers themselves do not even know or never understand the things, but they know exactly what is almost not the slightest difference!

For example, the Coca-Cola Company, after thorough research, knows that people put an average of 3.2 ice cubes in each glass of water and that each person sees an average of 69 advertisements for the company per year.Another example is McDonald’s, through market research, know exactly, in a certain country, each person ate an average of 156 hamburgers per year, 95 hot dogs.

It is very obvious that one of the important means of “knowing ourselves and knowing the enemy” is in-depth and detailed market research, which is also the main basis for making correct business decisions. If we do not conduct in-depth and detailed market research, how can decision makers achieve “knowing ourselves and knowing the enemy”? Making correct decisions is even more impossible.

Personal development and “Know Yourself and Know Your Enemy”

Martin Schwartz is a Wall Street day trader best known for growing $40,000 into $20 million in just a few years. Before that, he worked as a securities analyst for 10 years. However, as he said, during this period, he was often on the verge of bankruptcy due to trading losses.

Encouraged by his wife, Martin Schwartz began to seriously analyze himself. He likes freedom and hopes to work for himself; he is good at mathematics and responds quickly to numbers, suitable for short-term operations; he also likes gambling; he has been a securities analyst for 10 years and loves the investment market; he once joined the U.S. Marine Corps and has Good discipline.

After some analysis, Martin Schwartz set a goal for himself: to become a short-term trader.

Then, Schwartz spent several years turning $40,000 into $20 million.

In 1989, Schwartz established an investment fund with a capital of US$80 million. However, after more than a year of operation, the results were not satisfactory. Schwartz conducted self-analysis again and found that the main reason for the unsatisfactory performance was that large-scale funds were not suitable for his short-term operating style. In the end, he decisively disbanded the fund and re-operated his own funds, making huge profits every year.

We often feel unhappy or unsuccessful in doing things. One of the important reasons is that we don’t really understand ourselves. We always follow the footsteps of others and do things that others like and are good at, while ignoring our own advantages and not understanding our true self.

Whether you want to find a way of life that suits you better, or you want to achieve your goals, the most important thing is to “know yourself and your enemy.” Understand yourself and recognize your personal strengths. Understanding oneself is a process of thinking, not random thoughts, but a process of asking and answering questions in a person’s mind. Only by asking good questions can we get good thinking and self-analysis; bad questions and random thoughts will not lead to good results in the end. Only by understanding the market, understanding external changes, and adjusting your strategies and goals in a timely manner can you achieve longer-term happiness and success.

To sum up, “Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril. ” is the essence of Sun Tzu’s “Art of War”, which summarizes Sun Wu’s understanding of the enemy’s and our forces in war. Throughout the ages, generations of military scientists have been applying this basic law of universal significance, which has been proved over time to have profound guiding significance no matter for war, business activities, or even political activities.